Fuel tank



Aug. 10, 1948. J s s ETAL' 2,446,612

FUEL TANK Filed May 16, 1.946

DONALD J. SAUSER.

JOSEPH A. SAUSER.

Patented Aug. 10, 1948 UNITED STATES earn-NT, @orrles EvanstonJll.

ApplicatiofiMayiG, 1946, Serial No. 670,059 V This invention relates totank structures and more particularly to fuel'tanksrespecially; adaptedfor use in tiltabl'e vehicles, .such, forzexamplenas aeroplanes. More.specifically, the invention is particularly adapted for use in:miniat-ure '1 aeroplanes. J

,:.In the. operation of J aeroplanes t and especially miniatureaeropianesctherfuel *supply toithe engine efthe plane willxbe cnt 'oifwhenstheplane is inrcer-tain positions, such, for example'as when itis'making alooporisi in inverted position. Obviously thecuttingoff ofthe supply of fuel-to the :engine 'zafiects :its performance and mighteven :shut off the engine. The reason'for this is that whenthetank 'istilted ortturned upside down the :discharge: passage of the tank is notin fuel pick-up communication with the tank :AccordinglvWe aim.toizprovid'e incsuch a tank structure an improved liquid or fuelpick-upzand vent device which canswingably move in the tank in responseto tiltin of the same for enabling effective pick-up of the fuel in thedifferent positions to which the tank is tilted or--turned in thegyrations of the plane.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved but simplefuelpick-up for a tank which can readily adiust itself to differentpositions of the tank. I y

Still another object of the invention relates to the provision of aswingable-vent element in a tank movable to differentpositions upontilting of the tank so as to be maintained uppermost in the tank.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fuel tank for use Withinternal combustion engines of such construction that the tank willeffectively deliver fuel to the engine irrespective of tilting orcooking of the same.

In accordance with the general features of this invention there isprovided in a tank structure a liquid containing chamber and. a pendulumdevice in the chamber swingable to different positions in response totilting of the chamber for picking up liquid from said chamber in eachof said different positions.

Another feature of the invention relates to the disposition of thependulum in a lowermost position in the tank and to the provision of avent element movable with the shaft and located in an uppermostposition; both the pendulum device and the vent element bein movabletogether upon relative movement between the shaft and the tankoccasioned by tilting of the tank.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear fromthe following detailed description taken in' -conn'ectionwiththeacoompanyingtdrawingsyand in which v Figure 1 is zafrag'mentaryiside' -ew ofza miniatureaeroplane with .the. fuselagein:.;s'ection;

Figure 2 is an .r enlarged: plan :view of x-awfuel tank; and

Figure 3 is :a--cross-'-sectionalview taken on substantiallythe lineIII-III of sFig-urez, looking in the directioniindicated by=.-thearrows.

- As shown onthe drawings: r

i We have shown 'our invention as being: applied to aminiaturezaeroplanegiiesignated generally by the referencecharacten'tOKFig. '1); .Itais of .eours'e, to 'be understood thaton1invention isnot limited to this-application, ismce itImaybe em ployedwith equal advantage in other usesawhere a liquidcontaining 'chamber issent to beitilted. For illustration; itmlg'h'tibe used with: engines ofvehioles',---such -as tar'ms -aboats,.lawnimowers and the like.

The engine 1 0 l includes'the. usual-propeller L internal combustionengine' I2,1 'and fuselage lt'. These: elements' of sthestructurer'maybe: ofan conventionalorsuitahleconstruction. :Position ed"betweenrthe "engine '12 and: thefuselage i3 is a tank villustrated"generall'yaby the reference character 1 5, embracing the features ofthis invention.

'I'histank -'-I 5includes'two dished housing *sections l5a and 1 5i;aidaptedto be secured together .1 .flefin a u -r aini hamber; The tanksection l- 5b has an' en larg-ed .peripherial flange It in which theedge of the dished or cup-shaped section |5a is suitably secured. Thetank l5 may be made of any suitable material, such, for example, aslight metal or synthetic plastic. We contemplate that excellent resultsmay be obtained by molding the sections from synthetic plastic material,and thereafter suitably securing them together but subsequent to theintroduction of a movable shaft element l9, to be hereinafter described.

The sections |5a and l5b are provided with internal tubular bosses l1and I8, respectively, in which the ends of the shaft I!) are journaled.The metal shaft l9 has its ends provided with longitudinally aligned butspaced apart passage- Way 20 and 2|.

Fastened to the shaft I9 is a tubular vent element 22 having itsuppermost end provided with a vent hole 22 and having its lowermost endin communication with the passageway 2| in the shaft.

The other passageway 20 in the shaft communicates with the interior ofthe tubular element 23,

the housing section lib. This hole is aligned with the shaft passageway2| so that the contents of the tank may be subjected to atmosphericpressure. In practice we find that the end of the shaft [8 can besufliciently tightlyfitted in the tank.

passageway '20 is aligned with a tubular extension 30 on the outersideof the tank section la. In other words, the pendulum device 25 isadaptedto pick up fuel or liquid in the tank and deliver it in response tosuction through the shaft passage 20 and out of thetubularextension 30into a flexibleconnection 3.! leading to thecarburetor of'the engine.

Itwill beappreciated that the shaft, IS, the tubular vent element 20 andthe pendulum-like pick-up. device 25 are all movable together as a unitupon relative movement between the shaft P9 and the'housing of the tankl5. -The vane of the pendulum is of'sufliclen't weight that it willalwaystend .to be lowermost in the tank so that upon tilting of thetank, it will swingto a lower-v most position and maintain the vent'tube2| uppermost.

In the assembly of the tank, theesha-ftjand its integralelements: 22 and25:is first inserted in the bosses In! and l8 .as the two sections arebrought together in telescoping relation. Thereafter, the sections maybe suitably fastened to- -getherat the flange Hi, i

:One of the-sections may be'provided with an integral mountinguflange.32by mean-srof which the tank may be rigidly fastenedto a part of theaeroplane-,such as the fuselage. In addition, one of the sections isprovided with; a filler nipple 3'3 normally covered by a removal cup34'. Liquid or fuel may be introduced'in the tank through this filler 33upon removal of the cup; LThi tank will feed gasoline to the engine of aplane, modelorotherwise, whilethe plane is in The other end of the shaftcarrying the fuel 3 4v any position including inverted flight, withouteffecting performance of the engine at any time in going from oneposition to another.

The all position gas tank is mounted stationary to the structure ofplane, model or otherwise and a constant flow of fuel is provided for bythe rotating fuel pick-up 23 which operates through a 360 arc. e

The inner mechanism on shaft IQ of the all position gas tank, which isthe rotating fuel pickup, rotates 'by means of a combinationpendulumvane 25, on an axis which allows a full 360 swing boss l8 as topreclude leakage of fuel from the and thereby provides a constant fuelpick-up without effecting the performance of the engine no matter whatthe position of the tank.

The rotating fuel pick-up serves two functions: (1')-,The lower end 23to pick-up fuel and bring it outone side of .the axis of shaft I 9. (2)The upperend or tube 22 to vent the tank; also through the axis of theshaft.

We claim as our invention:

In a fuel tank structure especlallyadapted for use with aeroplanes, suchas miniature'acroplanes and the like, a fuel supply tank where fuel isforced from the tank under atmospheric pressure, a pendulum-like devicein the tank containing substantially opposite fuel pick-up and ventopenings and being swing-ably supported in said tank for movement todifferent positions in response to tilting of the tank and to enableatmospheric pressure to effectively force liquid from the'tan-k in saiddifferent positions, said pendulunr-like device comprising a shaftjournalled in the tank walls and having at its ends axially alignedpassageways, one communicating at its inner end with said pick-upopening and the other at its inner end withsaid vent opening and at itsouter end opening into the atmosphere surrounding the tank.,

' 'DONALD J. SAUSER.

J. A. SAUSER.

REFERENCES CITED Name Date 1,916,061 I Memini June 27, 1933 1,923,384:Miller Aug. 22, 1933 2,183,034 Voit et al. Dec. 12, 1939

